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25 Years of Gowanus: As it WAS, As it IS - AFTER SHOW Sale

25 Years of Gowanus: As it WAS, As it IS - AFTER SHOW Sale

Where some people see filth, Mark D Phillips sees artistry. Today, you can purchase your piece of the history of the Gowanus Canal.

Mark’s 25-year photographic documentation - “25 Years of Gowanus: As it WAS, As it IS” - was featured for one weekend during the Gowanus Open Studios Tour 2017. On Oct. 21 – 22, 2017, the bottom floor of Movers, Not Shakers! corporate headquarters became a gallery showcasing the changes along the polluted Brooklyn waterway.

Mark happened upon the Gowanus Canal in 1992, just a couple of years after moving to Cobble Hill from Florida. The waterway became a long-term photographic project, continuing throughout his 40-year career as a photojournalist. Now designated a Superfund site, the Gowanus Canal has a beauty that Mark has captured in its abandonment, grunginess, and now its resurgence.

In his early years photographing the canal, it had an eerie quality, with collapsed structures lining its banks; ISBrandtsen’s old shipping line pier, once one of the busiest in the world, barely remained above the surface of the water, a testament to the decline. The old Central Power Station of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company was built in 1896 and stands empty on the east bank, a grand skeleton looming high over the water. Purchased by a philanthropist, construction is underway with plans to turn it into art studios and exhibition space. Old metal piers have vanished and the silos that stood by the Carroll Street Bridge have transformed into high-end apartment complexes.

The oil still floats atop the water, joined by canoes and paddle boards. There are times when the colorful sheen stretches from bulkhead to bulkhead at the Ninth Street Bridge, creating a mosaic that resembles some of Tiffany’s finest stained glass. When the water is calm, the city reflects across its mirrored surface.

Perhaps, one day, it will become something more than an oddity.

Movers, Not Shakers! moved to their location astride the Gowanus Canal at 131 3rd Street, Brooklyn, in 2014. The green moving company is keeping the area’s history alive as a magnet for Brooklyn small business. Mark Ehrhardt, the President and Founder of Movers, Not Shakers!, Inc., has been friends with Mark Phillips for over 15 years. In his words, “The photography that Mark has captured over the years of the Gowanus Canal and surrounding areas is captivating, filled with images that create that sense of Deja Vu of looking back to Brooklyn’s past, and allows one to reflect on how much has changed here over the last 20 years. Our team is excited to create a space within our warehouse that will be a unique way to view our friend Mark’s photographs in a (quickly disappearing) industrial setting.“

A gallery built from reusable moving boxes at Movers, Not Shakers! was the setting for "25 Years of Gowanus"

The gallery space was unique. Built from reusable packing bins that highlight the green aspect of Movers, Not Shakers!, the green walls stretched around the warehouse space. The larger images rested within alcoves created by removing some of the boxes. It was a lego builders dream. Many of the visitors were struck by the urban gallery space. It provided a perfect setting for images of the Gowanus Canal.

The show contained 20 images ranging from 1992 TO 2017. One of Phillips' earliest images, in an antique frame, presented a view where nearly everything was gone, including the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center peaking over buildings that have been replaced by new residential megaplexes. A photograph of a jellyfish floating along the surface of the water contained "eyes" that gave it a mutant appearance. His photographs of shapes within the oil slicks were captivating, giving us Africa, the foot of a Greek God, and an obvious woman's body. The work captured the 25-year change around the Superfund site.

South Brooklyn Internet is the publisher of southbrooklyn.com, a website dedicated to the arts, photography and happenings of brownstone Brooklyn, featuring the work of Mark D Phillips.

The large scale prints in “25 Years of Gowanus: As it WAS, As it IS” are courtesy of exhibition PATRON supporter Philip Henn of CitiHabitats.

South Brooklyn Internet and Movers, Not Shakers! are proud to present “25 Years of Gowanus: As it WAS, As it IS” as sponsors of the Gowanus Open Studios Tour 2017, a free annual weekend featuring over 300 artists. Movers, Not Shakers! is located in the center of the show area, just across the Gowanus Third Street bridge from Whole Foods.

The scrap metal at at Benson's at Sunset has a 3-D effect in this metallic print under plexiglass

In Abandoned, St Agnes School stood empty and surrounded by desolation.

A Gowanus Flower, a Jellyfish with EYES, a look at 25-years ago from the Third Street Bridge, and a vanished Red Metal Pier

The pop-up Gallery at Movers, Not Shakers! featuring Mark D Phillips

ISBRANDTSEN's sunken pier started many conversations with visitors to the gallery.

A triptych of incredible shapes formed by the surface oil of the Gowanus Canal, Dinosaurs, and a reflection that looks like a Monet painting.